Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Audiophilander (A) on December 19, 2005 at 20:31:35

In Reply to: Come on ya old fart t's not that bad posted by YECH on December 19, 2005 at 15:40:36:

>>> "May I make an observation and say the negative liberal press and their dislike of the religious aspects in the movie is what makes you so hatefull of this movie??" <<<

I'll admit that the sons of adam & daughters of eve remark coming from a fantasy character in an alternate universe made me want to hurl, but that was only a minor quibble compared to the pansy-arsed bloodless war and lack of character development. The ice queen had all the appeal of one of your "clever" come-backs and her castle was about as inviting as the slums in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York. The animals were hum-drum and the effects were mediocre at best (Kong's effects were vastly superior as were the FX in Harry Potter's latest installment).

What shocked the heck outta me was the fact that this film supposedly cost $180,000,000 to produce. Where in the name of Bilbo Baggins did all the money go, ...marketing? It sure as heck wasn't up on the screen! Like I said elsewhere the forst 30 minutes were impressive, story-wise. It felt more like Merchant Ivory than fantasy, but I like the 40's era look and historical accuracy of moving the kids out of London away from the blitz.

Unfortunately, it moves from Merchant Ivory to Merchant of Venice for me after the kids are all joined in the fantasy kingdom through the wardrobe. The first time was great, because the faun character had some depth, but it was all downhill after that. The arguing beavers were just silly and not all that interesting, and the wicked witch was so blatantly drawn in her wickedness that I was halfway expecting Munchkins to pop-up and break into song. ;^)

No, YECH, this film sucked pond water, and while it may be pitched to religious conservatives as "safe" fantasy by the same outfit which pushed Mel Gibson's The Passion to church groups last year, it's phoniness doesn't fool me. However, with some remorse I'll credit Disney for it's slick ad campaign and slight of hand in obtaining money from my wife & I during it's first week's run. If there's any saving grace to this, at least we only paid matinee rates. Note: That was the "pound of flesh" extracted from my poor abused wallet!

BTW, we'll be going back to see Kong again, so perhaps that will help balance the cinematic karma a bit. :o)

Cheers,
AuPh